


Starry Waves

by SolNiveAngelo (Mogadorian_Wolf)



Category: The Lorien Legacies - Pittacus Lore
Genre: Adam asks a lot of very good questions, John's got a crush, M/M, Star! John, mentions of Adam's terrible family, mermaid! Adam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:13:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25770400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mogadorian_Wolf/pseuds/SolNiveAngelo
Summary: Adam loves staring up at the sky from his place in the water. One night, he meets a boy that glows claiming to be one of the stars.
Relationships: John Smith | Number Four/Adamus Sutekh
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Starry Waves

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not sure what I’m going to do with this, make it a one shot, expand it more… make it a series of sort of interlinked one-shots?

Night was Adam’s favorite. He liked staring up at the shimmering moon amongst the tiny stars that were infinitely brighter but so far away they didn’t seem like it. He liked the gentle crashing of the waves on the shore, and the way the dark water reflected the sky that hid another world beneath. He loved the way he felt alone with the water speaking to him, alone and safe. No disapproving, threatening fathers waiting for him to slip up, no adopted brother shoving him, “accidentally” injuring him because he just wasn’t strong enough.

That’s probably why he was called. He waded into the waves one sore night following the strong pull tugging at him. That was the night he changed, the night he grew a tail and left the human world far away. It’d been awkward since he’d only been hip deep to start with. Still, every night he rose toward the surface, no more than a foot below the waves and stared up at the wavering sky. In a way, it had become a tradition; something to hold on to in an endless ocean.

It was the glowing that attracted his attention. He swam toward the shore following the shine to a boy a little younger than him. He glowed like the stars above and looked confused at the waves. Adam drew closer to the surface, memorized by the boy’s glow.

The boy’s eyes landed on him, and the glow died down a little, enough for Adam to actually see the boy’s blonde curls and the beautiful smile he flashed Adam. Adam swallowed, drifting a little closer and almost surfacing.

“Hi,” The boy said crouching down near the water. He held out a hand like he thought Adam was a timid animal he needed to coax. Adam half wanted to leave at that, but he wanted to draw closer to the glowing boy more.

He surfaced and lifted a hand in a vague greeting. The glow intensified for a moment before dying down leaving the boy looking sheepish. “Sorry. It just flares up if I get distracted. You’re cute.”

It was the first time Adam remembered being complimented like that. He bit his lip and drifted a little further away. His face felt too hot, and he ducked under the waves.

“Sorry did I scare you?”

Adam shook his head, keeping his eyes firmly on the glowing boy.

“It’s my first night down here. Henri says I’ll learn more control the longer I’m down here.” He stared at his hands. “If I’m down here too longer, I’ll lose my glow.”

Adam carefully surfaced again. “You’re a star?”

His glow brightened a little again, not as much as the first time, but still enough to obscure his features again. Adam wondered if it would hurt to touch that kind of glow.

“Yeah. You can call me John.”

“Call you? That’s not your name?”

John tipped his head and shrugged. “Most stars just refer to me as Four. I like John better.”

Adam drew nearer. “I’m Adam. Do you… go back up there?”

John followed his finger up to the sky where the rest of the stars were. “Yeah. Before the night’s over, or I lose my glow and I’m stuck down here.”

He sat down beside the water, toes barely touching the lapping waves. Adam came a little closer, starting to scrape up against the sandy bottom. It felt weird to be on sand so close to the shore again.

“Why did you come down?”

John smiled at him. “You always stared up at me. I wanted to…” His glow brightened again. “I wanted to see you up close.”

How many stars had Adam stared at over the past years? Did he really single one out? In a sudden vivid memory, he remembered daring to make a wish on one really bright star to never have to go back or leave the water again. He swallowed, body burning with embarrassment.

“Oh. Did you- did you hear me?”

John stared at him. “There’s not really any sound in space.” His glow brightened and flickered. Adam adverted his gaze. “Did you make a wish on me? I’ve heard it’s something humans do.”

“I… I think.” He glanced at John out of the corner of his eye. The glow was dimmed again. “Where’s your star?”

John leaned forward and pointed, right at the star that Adam had wished at. “It’s still glowing.”

“Of course. People would notice if stars just disappeared once in a while and landed on earth. The star is like my body, and what you see here is… more like my soul. Right now, they’re still attached, but if I’m still here when they sun rises, they’ll separate.”

Adam stared at John and reached out to touch him. He was solid and warm like he’d been standing under the sun. He didn’t feel like he was just the soul of a star light years away, not that Adam was really sure what that would be like.

John grinned at him. “It is a solid form. I can do anything you can.”

“Can you swim?”

John brightened and slid into the water beside Adam. “The water doesn’t affect my glow at all. Want to show me around?”

Adam wrapped his hand around John’s. “Can you hold your breath? Do you even need to breathe as a star soul?”

John laughed, and it sounded so bright and light that Adam wanted to soak in it for a while. “Yes, I breathe, and I can hold my breath. I just have to be able to see my star.”

“You can’t see a lot and keep the sky in sight,” Adam told him. He tried to lock the disappointment away. There wasn’t a lot he could show people who couldn’t breathe under water.

John seemed hesitant. “I could go deeper. I’d just loose a connection to my star… it could be reestablished if we resurface before the sun rises.”

“And you could drown,” Adam guessed. He shook his head. “We can swim on the surface. And I have a lot of questions. Like where’d you get your clothes? Do they magically appear?”

John laughed. “I haven’t really thought about it, before. Henri says the shape I take is an image I have in my head, and I don’t picture myself naked.”

Adam wasn’t going to go there. He lazily swam around John as he floated, lighting up the water around him in an otherworldly glow. “So if you imagined yourself looking different, you’re body would change?”

John frowned. “I haven’t really tried.” He shrugged. “It’s not something I consciously think about. Do you think about how you appear often?”

Adam froze. He remembered thinking about it so often when he was on the land. He shook away the stream of memories threatening to overwhelm him.

“Can you float?”

John gave him a curious look. “Could you help?”

Adam flushed, and swam up beside John. He put his hands under John and helped him lay on the surface. “You have to be calm, and breath steady.”

John stared right at Adam like maybe he was the world. It was different to be suspended in the water with someone. Adam switched his gaze back up at all the stars glittering down on them. Each one of them had a glowing soul like John’s. He wondered what it would look like to have all of them roaming earth as glowing souls.

“Do you thing we’re all just star souls that have been disconnected to our star bodies?” Adam asked, staring up at all the stars. Were there enough stars in the sky for all the people in the world? What about babies?

John laughed. “You have a lot of questions. No, there are only a small fraction that actually choose to walk the earth, and only small fraction of those that stay here.”

“Can stars have babies? I don’t think they covered any of this science class.”

John laughed full heartedly, and Adam felt like melting. He met John’s gaze. “Yeah, they can have babies. I don’t know much about it, just that I think most of the stars that do, stay. Why are you asking about babies?”

“Like I said I have a lot of questions. There could be little glowing star babies walking around on earth.”

John laughed again.


End file.
